Salvation Army opens new community hub and church in the heart of Dublin

The Salvation Army will this weekend officially open a new community hub and church in the heart of Dublin.

The charity has received the keys to the state-of-the-art centre on Kings Inn Street – and corps officers Captain Tim and Lieutenant Charlotte Lennox say it will enable them to reach out and demonstrate God’s love to more people in their community through practical and spiritual support.

Commissioners Anthony and Gill Cotterill, leaders of the Salvation Army in the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom territory, will do the ribbon-cutting on Saturday (January 18) at 2pm.

The impressive building will house the Salvation Army’s Dublin City Corps (church) and feature a social enterprise cafe alongside a hub for the central support teams that enable the charity to serve many vulnerable people in Dublin.

Dublin City Corps had been based on Lower Abbey Street for over 100 years but moved out of the building eight years ago due to the high costs of maintaining it. Despite not having a permanent base, the corps has grown and is now a thriving multi-cultural family congregation with people from 17 countries worshipping there.

Captain Tim said: “This is an exciting moment for the Salvation Army in Dublin. The building will play an important role in the development of our mission and ministry work in the community, and we will look to incorporate a range of activities to meet the needs of people.

“The groundwork we have been doing to build relationships in the community has been rewarding and encouraging. But now we are in strong position to develop our roots even further. We are now in a great position to continue to deliver our ministry. The new building will house our weekly worship services which are informal and contemporary in nature. We are planning a range of community activities, groups for parents and toddlers, English language classes for migrants, student meals, and children activity clubs.

“We will also have The Hub Cafe, which will be open six days a week from 8am to 6pm that will serve ethically sourced, organic food and beverages. The great thing about the cafe is that we will be able to offer training placements for people from our shelters and family hubs in Dublin to help give them the confidence and training to get back into work.

“It’s been an incredible journey to get to where we are with this new building. Our thanks and blessings go to all those who worked tirelessly to bring us such an incredible space.”

Captain Tim and Lieutenant Charlotte Lennox, leaders of Dublin City Corps, have been in Dublin for almost three years with their two children Israel and Aurora. They have spearheaded the new building project and also have launched a gap year programme where young adults from around the world live in Dublin for one year and develop their leadership and social skills to be able to serve some of the most vulnerable in society.

Major Paul Kingscott, leader of the Salvation Army’s Ireland Divisional, said: “We recognised the needs of people in Dublin and hopefully this new centre will give us an exciting opportunity to demonstrate our belief of changing people’s lives within communities and enhance the already strong ties we have with local residents.”